Revision as of 22:39, 6 December 2011

I wanted a small and fast laptop that's capable of running Linux. My choice is a HP Compaq nc4400 since the Lenovo Thinkpad X-serie is too expensive.
This HP and the Lenovo Thinkpad have a lot in common, for example they both sport a pointing stick and both lack an optical (cd/dvd) drive.
My goal was to leave the pre-installed WinXP on the laptop and install Arch from an usb stick since I do not own an USB cd/dvd drive.

What works/What doesn't

Pretty much everything needed works when you tweak. This wiki is an excellent source of infomation. :)
On windows the network controller (nextreme) can be "safely removed" to save power. I think you can do the same in linux with "rmmod tg3".

For the right console display size I set vga=792 (1024x768x16M@60Hz) as a kernel boot parameter.

There's hardware mute and volume up/down buttons. They work but odly every time I reboot it's always back to mute. More like a feature than a bug.

The fn+brighter/dimmer display buttons and the Ambient Light Sensor work software independent.

In my understanding, the TPM doesn't show anywhere even tho there's a kernel module for the infineon TPM. I haven't tried to make it work and probably won't even try.
I believe the Irda and modem work as expected, haven't tested.

I haven't tried to use an external monitor/TV, I expect making those work is just matter of confing.

The ICH7 family sports a hpet multimedia timer that saves power. Kernel boot parameter hpet=force just in case.